overwhelmingly rejects an e.u. proposed raid on bank savings with not a single yes vote in parliament the country needs a plan to avoid bankruptcy. president obama is in israel his first foreign visit after reelection with claims his trip is papering over the cracks in the relationship rather than seeking real progress on peace she searches peace in the middle east and a potential strike on iran. the number of hunger striking prisoners at guantanamo bay nearly double was according to camp officials at least two inmates in hospital . i welcome you watching with me andrew. thousands of cypriots are celebrating after

the country's parliament gave a resigning no vote to the e.u. i.m.f. bailout package the move could have seen the government take up to ten percent of people savings from private bank accounts as a precondition to securing the much needed ten billion euro zone it's been rejected the ailing your is a member will have to work out another plan to avoid bankruptcy. reports from outside the parliament building in the. well there was clearly is certainly a lot of opposition to going into the a vote that the parliament had made opposition coming from the people as well as politicians voicing how will this kind of a position from brussels from the e.u. ministers of the i.m.f. is unfair to make the a citizen is a shoulder bear the brunt of the burden of having to recapitalize the banks if they did not at all see agree to this kind of package there were a lot of people who were gathered near the parliament building it rejecting the troika very angry at the european union it particularly in germany had feeling that

they were pushed into a corner and having to accept a condition that was really very tough on them and this is really quite a statement to be made by the cypriot parliament there were thirty six who knows nineteen abstentions and zero yes is a quite a statement indeed to make when other countries that had received bailouts from the european union have had to accept very stringent and draconian. packages as they are to cots a lot of a lot of measures that really where the people were bearing the brunt and so cyprus is sending a very strong no two via troika to the european union and it really is interesting to see how this unfolds the next step for the parliamentarians here is to present other options too weird to be a president to be a republic and they are looking at options that don't involve the troika there are a lot of indications of that especially coming from the leftist parties they really don't want to see any involvement from the e.u. at this point if that will work and if they will come up with it with an amount of

that will actually help to solve the financial crisis of cyprus it is really a big question here so the controversial deposit tax has been rejected by cyberspace you have crossed the red line proposing the idea that is the view of nigel ferrars a u.k. independence party things brussels has sent a strong signal to people of europe. even in my diaries predictions in this parliament over the years about the way the e.u. bosses were behaving never did i think that they would in a completely unprecedented manner resort to stealing money from people's bank accounts and the message that sends to people who got savings in banks in those countries certainly if i was them is get your money out while you can do not invest anywhere in the euro zone you've got to be mad to do so because it's now run by people who don't respect democracy who don't respect the rule of law who don't respect the basic principles upon which western civilization is supposed to be

based they are propping up a euro zone which in the end is going to collapse in disastrous failure they are prepared to do anything to do so i think that this decision this german dominated and led decision is the worst decision we've seen so far in this whole euro zone crisis. well cyprus may now face bankruptcy within weeks it needs about sixteen billion euros to rescue its economy but the so-called troika creditors reluctant to provide the country with the phone and start looking to other sources and cools for help moscow where cyprus finance minister has arrived to meet his russian counterpart. reports the syrian finance minister is currently in moscow and is set to meet with his russian counterpart on wednesday and all this is happening despite angela merkel's direct calls on the country not to even consulted with anyone about its current economic problems except for brussels and the so-called troika of the

lester's what we're witnessing here now apparently is that cyprus is turning to russia and it's no wonder why since billions of euros which came from russia are clearly a lying on cyprian bank accounts there is speculation that the origin of a part of this money is not really clear but the majority of these funds billions of euros are clean money which were brought there by pretty much all layers of russian businesses from small ones to giant corporations talks about dhea of stories asian have been continuing in russia for quite some time and the measures similar to what the european union has proposed would accelerate dhea sure ization which would do significant we hurt the cyprian economy even more which is based on foreign money and it's not only russian money which is there in cyprus it's also money which came from other countries like china and japan and if a domino effect begins this could all tingly lead to the collapse of the syrian

economy. that could russian roubles be one of the reasons the e.u. wasn't willing to fully bailout cyprus that said the baited into days cross talk with pay to live well. the germans were already agreed to this bailout if the russians depositors which is a lot is about thirty billion dollars worth of russian money in those banks they don't get away scot free but it's because of deposits overwhelmingly the people who are getting burned by this tax on depositors' are cypriots. and the notion that russian oligarchs and so on are being bought this is really put about in germany in order to justify the very harsh treatment of cypriot savers. they see.

barack obama is heading to a key ally israel for the first time as u.s. president obama's previous term in office was marred by frosty relations with israel's recently reelected prime minister benjamin netanyahu however expectations of a breakthrough on the most pressing issues appear low even among u.s. officials the many see the much trumpeted visit as a p.r. stunt. reports when former american president george bush visited israel his trip with sky's pope benedict the sixteenth was cloaked white world now it's a bomb has turned. the visit down she could be alliance it is a sign of the extraordinary relations between israel and the united states. so extraordinary that the prime minister's office invited the public to choose one of these designs as the trips official emblem but relations between the two leaders are strained and many believe the positive p.r. is nothing more than clever spin there are policy differences on iraq. on the

palestinian issue on the. rise of islamist forces in. egypt where do you see from your new version of what you see from washington. at the distance. from the palestinian street for that matter obama obama came just to beautify the ugly face that bush left the american government works the same whether the president is a bomber or bush the only difference is that one president smiles while the other does not. this is likely to be the scene to the next three days while the bomb is in town and anger frustration and raised as the streets of palestine are also full of posters protesting the president's visit to many of them his face has been blacked out. critics warn that if obama doesn't confront the two now who are settlements and sixty seven borders the visit could disintegrate into another diplomatic failure and some say when you will of violence in the middle east we

don't see ourselves leaving our communities we have returned to places where we have the jewish people have always wished to live there and we live there with the encouragement of the support of the israeli government when it comes to running here to a bomb and netanyahu are at loggerheads a bomber is against an israeli military strike despite relations between the u.s. and iran being themselves quite strained. iran. in spite of american explicit objection would certainly. relations with the united states might. even break them all together so for all its hype a bomb is visit for many is less of a compliment and more of an attempt by washington to reaffirm its military alliance in pursuit of its economic interests the interests of the united states it's not it's in the research as of the middle east and not in its people and poor ever

think that it is the united states has changed that is it will prove differently proof that comes at a price literally the three day trip cost millions of dollars a high price for a visit with so little promise for us we are to tell about. the number of prisoners staging a hunger strike again turning my back has nearly doubled according to u.s. military officials but also admit that at least two inmates were treated in hospital for dehydration but maintain there's no mass strike over mistreatment as detainees lawyers claim meanwhile the u.n. human rights body has finally responded to mounting media coverage of the guantanamo crisis when portnoy has the details. received a long statement from the office of the un's high commissioner for human rights navi pillay now directly related to the guantanamo hunger strike that statement said that quote while aware of some of the allegations of mistreatment of inmates

said to have provoked the hunger strike which includes undue interference with inmates personal effects we are still trying to confirm the details unquote that was a statement coming from the un's office of commissioner for human rights now the statement went on to say that the human rights commissioner has repeatedly regretted that the u.s. government has not closed get mail and has she's also expressed concern over the obstacles the national defense authorization act has created for losing the island prison and for trying prisoners that are there even the united nations has not been able to have enough access at guantanamo to see what is taking place with this hunger strike the prisoners at guantanamo bay one on hunger strike on february sixth in protest of the alleged confiscation of their personal items and. sacrilegious handling of their qur'an at that time the u.s. military was saying that only a handful of prisoners were on hunger strike we do know that medical experts have

told us and so have attorneys that once this hunger strike enters its forty fifth the day hunger strike participants risk losing their eyesight and losing their hearing there's been reports according to attorneys of hunger strike participants losing up to thirty pounds if not more coughing up blood losing consciousness being hospitalized problem is we as journalists do not have direct access to more autonomy obey the information we get of what is taking place there with the in with the inmates is censored by the military so right now we are basing our information on what the attorneys are telling us of the detainees and this hunger strike but it can get to the point. those detainees being forced that i was reporting from new york for us. also spoke on the phone to captain jason de ruyter member of the defense team to some of the detainees is what he told us about the conditions the prisoners find themselves in and of course one could really repeat weeks ago i met

with my client my half inclined i was shocked. to hear more. and you know of all concern you know wouldn't scription. people whole lot about the conditions of confinement because your government. can only talk about me i can tell you that american progress other defense attorney never if you. told me. a story about how what happened. what happened with the software. so i had iraq continues to be marred by violence ten years after the u.s. led invasion we look at how stability in the country is proving to be the face of. rebels and the government in syria playing the blame for a comical attack that killed twenty five people and wounded dozens. of a foreign intervention in

a more. wealthy british style. market . find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines. reports. technology innovation. developments from around russia.

when their own country can't offer them a living. sometimes have to leave their children behind. i don't like to wonder just. the dream of millions of migrants the children might choose their. i want my children to win over moscow. russia has become. to find a way home. but

i welcome back a wave of deadly violence and assassinations have the tenth anniversary of the u.s. led invasion of iraq at least sixty five people were killed in a series of blasts in baghdad on tuesday which we can you deadliest day in. and. reports from the capital a decade off the western coalition stepped in to bring freedom and democracy stability you still are leading the nation. iraq in the immediate moment is dealing with the numerous political problems there's tension on the ground between the sunni populations in the shia led government there's conflict over oil deals frustration with the political system accusations of corruption and strife and of course the daily insurgency the attacks that of course have gone down significantly since the height of the war but still continue as evidenced by the blast in baghdad

and so i think many iraqis that you speak to will say you know what yes we're free that saddam hussein is gone but at what cost is it worth it to have these daily attacks this violence one man that we spoke to in the city of just today said yes i'm free to go out of my house today the question is whether i will return alive and i think that says quite a lot about the situation in iraq faces today nearly forty percent of all the rocky adults at the moment don't have a job quarter of the families live below the world bank's poverty line this insistence that much better than what we saw under the crippling u.n. sanctions of the one nine hundred ninety s. for iraq the future really remains uncertain at the moment. military campaign in iraq was supposed to overthrow the regime of saddam hussein and the world from his alleged weapons of mass destruction. w m d's were never found. whether the means could justify the end in the iraqi war. what for the thinking

then and what do they think now those are the questions that many people want to ask those in power who made the decision to invade iraq ten years ago r.t. did just that pose in several uncomfortable questions to those who voted to invade the country a decade ago warning their replies may leave you surprised no i don't regret voting in that way because i think the people of iraq have been freed of course you regret any number of people who died but the big question is what were the was the intent of saddam hussein against his own people we've already seen that we had a very repressive regime but what's come in place of saddam's baath his dream could hardly be called a better safer life a decade of insurgency terror attacks roadside bombs and seemingly endless six tarion violence the effect of the invasion on the iraqi population has been devastating let's look at these numbers over here we're looking at almost five

thousand coalition deaths about hundred thirty four thousand of iraq he does but of course those numbers are varying greatly depending on the source and finally you're looking at more than two million displaced people of course not to mention the latest report by the watson institute for international studies at brown university which reckons the war has to date cost the u.s. more than two trillion dollars some american military officials remain undaunted by the numbers and believe what they did ten years ago actually was a good thing i think it was very necessary for us to do something to help the middle east which would be a degree of freedom that it hadn't had before now a lot of people are going to argue that the iraq invasion did not provide the types of freedom that we had originally envisioned but what what the they were dealing with that was they didn't allow any freedoms and now depending on where you are in

iraq there is at least some. once of some freedom unfortunately no map of those places has been provided the latest gallup poll conducted on the eve of the tenth anniversary showed fifty three percent of americans consider the invasion of iraq a mistake the view is shared by at least one man who was among those who ten years ago believed a military operation against saddam hussein was necessary artie's bureau longdon mets' with lord prescott who in two thousand and three was tony blair's deputy prime minister it always used to be denied that it was regime change talking about not only was a review but it's now what motivates the russian i think to be got to iraq you see these people not talking about intervening but they don't want boots on the ground with like they just want. to kill civilians. so i want the lesson to be learned and we shouldn't repeat it again these countries must develop in all ways as for those iraqis who fought in the war well for them the war is

anything but over as they now have to rebuild a country led to the brink of collapse by foreign invaders in the name of ultimate good while those who instigated the carnage seem to show no regrets whatsoever. activists can stone blaze washington's ambitions in iraq went beyond just helping the iraqi people. the anglo-american invasion of iraq turned iraq into a disaster area it partitioning the country into three parts it d. nationalize the oil it destroyed the infrastructure it was responsible for the deaths of over a million the have people and it's turning into refugees of at least two million in the rockies it was never about a genocidal dictator that's part of the same weapons of mass destruction script that the united states and britain and other western countries are still playing

today against syria iran north korea it wasn't about weapons of mass destruction it wasn't about connections to terrorism it was about seizing the oil resources of iraq and that's what is the main issue here and later this hour r.t. takes the streets of iraq setting out on a three week road trip exploring the country behind the headlines that makes a special report. clear image of iraq to face. twenty day taxi trip through the country. the road. near evidence from north to south. the reach of iraqi tragedy. after the war waiting for peace. i got a taxi on our t.v. . syria's government and rebels are accusing each other of launching a chemical attack near the northern city of aleppo that killed twenty five people

and wounded dozens opposition activists earlier said government troops were among the dead news of the attack led to a prompt international response britain and the us reiterated earlier warnings that the use of chemical weapons could lead to an intervention russia expressed concerns that rebels might have got hold of w m d's author and historian gerald horne says the horrors of syria cannot be looked at in isolation. it turns out that the rebels committed this we should not be surprised after all they've become master of car bombings not least we should also recall that this is the anniversary of the disastrous us invasion of iraq and as we speak bombs are going off in baghdad punctuating this disastrous invasion we should connect the two events just as the al-qaeda in iraq and their allies or detonating bombs in baghdad across the border

in syria our newsroom front which is connected to al qaeda in iraq is engaged in car bombings and perhaps chemical weapons bombings as well france and the u.k. or wintering powers as a result of that weakness france and the u.k. are heavily dependent upon capital from the gulf arabs the saudis and the pitot reason not least and so it seems to me that when they talk about trying to arm the rebels in syria they're basically dancing to the tune played by the saudis and the qataris quick look at some other news making headlines around the globe u.s. will make it have decided to drop a ban on assault weapons from proposed gun control legislation officials say the measure lacks support but it's believed the ban could later be voted on as a separate bill though polls show most americans back an assault weapons ban the influential pro-gun lobby groups. such as the national rifle association have pressed will make is to oppose such a. north african branch say they've killed

a french hostage in mali reports claim phillipe with bill was killed in response to france's intervention in the country the french foreign ministry says it's trying to verify the report but on another french men were seized in mali in november twenty seventh. coming up after the break we take a look at the every day life of iraqi people going violence with some of the. world's. science technology innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future covered. you know how sometimes you see

a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear sees some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. wealthy british style. sometimes. markets why not canada. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our.

on the road to bass for this morning the u.s. army is beginning to withdraw from iraq. in december twentieth after nine years of

occupation the last american troops are finally leaving the country. that everybody got got to know but if you have a little bit of the iraqis anger towards the departing innovators who once dreamed of being liberators the departure resembles abandonment and escape despite the optimistic speeches. a. cease.

april twenty twelve and i'm back in iraq and so on the border with turkey. i have an appointment this morning with his taxi. in the united states that they would make a democracy out of iraq in the heart of the arab world. but the iraq i see today is a country.